Pages

Weekly Roundup - November 12, 2016

Happy Weekend! Check out what's been going on in my world and some of the best articles from around the blogosphere.

Unexpected. That's about all I can say for how this week has gone. By now everyone has heard of Donald Trump's surprising victory in the Presidential election on Tuesday. Just as surprising was seeing the massive reversal in the stock markets. Due to what I presume was the unexpected Trump lead in the election, and eventual win, futures on the DJIA were signaling as much as an 800+ point decline for the index. Well, by the time I got up Wednesday morning that had move to just a 250 point decline and in late afternoon trading the DJIA was actually UP 300 points on the day. That's an 1,110 pt swing from the low point the futures were forecasting to the high of the day. Absolutely amazing.Regarding the markets though not much has changed in my eyes. I still want to focus on value first which there isn't much that I see is a screaming buy. For the most part the companies that I'd love to add to are still on the high side of fair value so they're defensible to buy, but are still expensive. That doesn't mean I haven't been active this week as I opened 4 new options positions, 3 put options and 1 buy/write call. All of these moves were done in my newly rolled over 401k. Honestly seeing that much cash, approximately $140k, sitting in my account is hard. Being patient and focusing on value will win out in the long run, but man this is one of the hardest things to do. With all of the options contracts that I opened I "invested" nearly $40k of capital which is insane just how quickly that can happen. I had to walk away from the computer because I could have easily "invested" $60-70k over the last couple days. There's no awards for investing capital quickly and I need to come up with a more set in stone plan for how to invest this capital to balance my desire to be more aggressive with options, build a long term dividend growth oriented portfolio and keeping some cash on the sidelines for any downside market volatility. So there's plenty to ponder this weekend.I mentioned last week how I was actually looking forward to the Black Friday/Cyber Monday sales this year. I normally am not a shopper, but this year that will likely change and with quite a large purchase. I've always wanted a home/garage gym and with me being a SAHD and constantly having my daughter in tow coupled with being home that desire has increased. I was eyeballing some weight lifting equipment from Rogue Fitness; however, after researching other places I found a similar set up that looks more appealing. The overall cost is much less than the set up from Rogue Fitness although I think it's a better deal. As of now the package is running $679 and while I'm not getting as much weight, only half as much as the RF package, I do get a squat rack which will make things easier.I've tried searching Craigslist and the various other sites/apps but I just can't find much. I can build something that is comparable, but it would be a lot of hassle because the downside of Craigslist and the other resale sites is that things aren't all together. So is it worth my time to save money but dramatically increasing the hassle factor, especially when you factor in that I drive a Honda Civic so transporting anything bulky is a pain. I'm leaning towards getting this lower weight package, but better overall package from Fringe Sport (with free shipping) and then using Craigslist to build up the additional weights as needed. On to the RoundupIn case you missed them, here's the posts from Passive-Income-Pursuit over the past week.

Yeah, I'm definitely wanting to take a more slow and steady approach to investing this cash. However, I also know that there's no telling when a big market drop will come so I can't just completely sit on the sidelines. I'm leaning towards capping myself at 50% invested which leaves about $70k to invest in the meantime, primarily through options, and $70k to invest during a big market drop.

Exactly - wow, is all you can say, just wow. Also - yes $40K is a TON to use and hard not to use when there are so many things happening. Stay calm and focused and stick to your strategy is all. Thanks for the share, as always. Keep it up and stay consistent with your plan.

It's about $140k total so it's a bit of a struggle to keep my eye on the long term and being patient but also needing to generate some kind of return with the capital in the meantime. Patience and sticking to value will win out in the long run.

Regarding the markets, not much has changed in my eyes either. I'll continue to make my buys as I always have focusing on value like you and yield and sustainable dividends. Thank you for the DivHut mention as well. Have a great weekend.

I was hoping to really sit down this past week and come up with a concrete plan to get this money invested, but unfortunately a weekend with nothing planned turned into a weekend of nothing done. Patience and focus on value will be the biggest determinant in earning big returns so I want to be selective. Hopefully we can get some good values in a relatively short time because I think seeing that cash sitting there is going to be very difficult.

That is a lot of money to invest. I would think that other than the options, you may also be able to slowly dollar cost your way into companies that you may find attractive. The options bets may help you get into good companies at a better price though.

Yeah I've been contemplating whether I want to split the money up into 1/2 or 1/3 with more aggressive options and cash on the sidelines for opportunities and then whether I want to DCA. DCA seems like a good idea since I have the free trades so I can really take advantage of that and do really small $500 lot purchases which seems like a good way to build the positions up over time. Definitely a lot of decisions to make.

Disclaimer:

I am not a financial professional. I'm just a regular guy that is self-taught about investing. I am responsible for my decisions and you for yours. Any information received from this website is for informational/entertainment purposes only and should not be taken as investment advice. This site and author are not responsible for losses of any kind by readers. Investments can lose money. Please do your own due diligence and consult a financial/investment professional before investing any of your money.

There may be 3rd party ads or links to 3rd party products/services on this site or affiliate links. I may receive compensation for linking to certain products or services. This does not mean that I endorse/recommend said product or service. Recommended products/services can be found under the Reviews label.